Joffrey Ballet Polishes Gems Of The Past To A Gleam

March 31, 1989|By Richard Christiansen, Entertainment editor.

``Le Sacre du Printemps,`` the Joffrey Ballet`s stirring revitalization of the monumental 1913 ballet of choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky and composer Igor Stravinsky, returned to the Civic Opera House stage Thursday night as part of the company`s current Chicago engagement, looking even more impressive than when it had been introduced to Chicago audiences last year.

This is one of the last and finest legacies of dance reconstruction that Robert Joffrey left to the dance world before his death last year, and his company has honored his memory by keeping the ballet at a very high level of performance.

Watching the Joffrey production, one knows why this work is a classic.

The painstakingly re-created costumes and scenery of its ``pictures of pagan Russia in two acts`` are still stunning in their bright freshness. Its dancers remain deeply and ferociously in sync with the music`s propulsive rhythms, and its epochal score, strongly played by a pit orchestra under Allan Lewis` direction, continues to be heightened by the excited movement and brilliant color of the ballet itself.

Now seen as the closing ballet in a bill that includes ``Parade`` and

``L`Apres-midi d`un Faune,`` it is the crown jewel of a fascinating program devoted to ballets introduced from 1912 to 1917 in Paris by the legendary Les Ballets Russes of the impresario Serge Diaghilev. It will be repeated at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Joffrey, in its devotion to presenting important ballets from the past, also has done a crisp, forceful revival of Eugene Loring`s American classic, ``Billy the Kid,`` which premiered in Chicago at the Civic Theatre 51 years ago.

The dance, set to Aaron Copland`s score (again well played by the orchestra), is no stranger to Chicago audiences, having been revived frequently by American Ballet Theatre in its annual visits to Chicago.

But the Joffrey version, staged by Patrice L. Whiteside, is not a limp reworking of a once-vital work. It`s precise, bright and mint-fresh in its dancing and decor. The energy and danger of the pioneer American West that Loring portrayed in his ``character-ballet in one act`` is very much present in this version, and, as a result, its story of the life and death of the young outlaw Billy becomes compelling all over again.

Jerel Hilding, looking but not always dancing the part to perfection, was Billy in Wednesday night`s performance; Glenn Edgerton is scheduled for the role when the ballet is repeated in the final matinee at 3 p.m. Sunday.

To be seen Saturday night for the first time this season are two works by Gerald Arpino, the Joffrey`s artistic director: a revival of the two-character ``Sea Shadow,`` with music by Maurice Ravel, and the exotic, erotic bumps and grinds of ``Light Rain.``

THE JOFFREY BALLET

Opened Tuesday in the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., and continues through Sunday`s matinee with various repertory programs. Length of performance: 2:05. Tickets are $15 to $38. Phone 902-1500.